Free speech: Concerns that surveillance of social media chills political action

Public and private surveillance of activists using the social media to peacefully organize has prompted concern as evidence mounts that police and private security companies have been monitoring Black Lives Matter online activity. While not illegal, the monitoring has a chilling effect says the American Civil Liberties Union. (Tech.Mic, January 19, 2016, by Ellie Kaufman)

There have been a number of reports over the last eight months of the federal government monitoring Black Lives Matter including one by George Joseph in The Intercept, July 24, 2015, revealing details of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) involvement. The DHS has collected information from Facebook, Twitter and Vine on political activities in Ferguson, Baltimore, Washington, DC and New York.

Concerns also surfaced in Oregon where an Oregon Department of Justice investigator used a search tool last year to racially profile Twitter users associated with the movement. The Attorney General suspended the investigator. (THINKPROGRESS, November 12, 2015, by Kira Lerner)